Opel Astra GTC (2012)

CAR GARAGE | Opel Astra GTC (2012) | "The Astra GTC expresses our passion for cars," the Opel / Vauxhall Vice President for Design, Mark Adams, explains. In contrast to many other coupes Often the which are merely variants of a hatchback sedan, the Opel Astra GTC is a standalone car within the Opel product spectrum. "The essence of the new Opel design language is to Reduced everything to the maximum. And the Opel Astra GTC is our most radical interpretation of that," says the Opel Exterior Design Director, Malcolm Ward. A fine, crisp line sweeps downward from the front door to the bottom of the rear fender and energizes the body side. The third line follows the clean, sporty silhouette of the roof.

The designers' unwillingness to compromise, particularly when designing the GTC shoulder area, put the whole engineering team up against a challenge. "We needed to translate the emotional side of the sketches onto street level." Dyson Remembers how during the GTC project experts from different disciplines were engaged in a battle to build the best possible car. Since the start of orders, the new Opel Astra GTC has been available with a choice of five engines - a powerful 2.0 liter turbo diesel with 121 kW/165 hp four agile alongside gasoline engines with outputs from 74 kW/100 hp to The 1.6 turbo with 132 kW/180 hp. Further high performance engines will be launched next year, the 206 kW/280 hp Including OPC variant. Opel will soon launch a new 121/165 hp diesel unit with a user-friendly six-gear automatic transmission.

The success story of the Opel Astra GTC began as the study design GTC Genève, the which was Presented at the 2003 Geneva motor show. In 2006, Opel Became the first car maker in the world to offer this as a basic feature in a production vehicle. In contrast to many other coupes the which are merely a 3-door variant of Their 5-door hatchback counterparts, the first generation Astra GTC was already a standalone model in its own right within the Opel product spectrum. Many fans coupé Could not resist, the Charms of the racy three-door car. So Opel was Able to sell more than 400 000 Astra GTCs across Europe. Germany represents the second biggest market for the Opel Astra GTC (70 500 sales), Followed by Spain, Russia, Italy and France.